Exciting culinary challenges were on show at the HACE live-cooking competition held this week in Cairo, promising much for plans to upgrade Egyptian chefs' training, writes Jyl Ghoneim Not expecting much, I accepted the small green leaves and popped them in my mouth. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then a sudden burst of flavour began to develop. First, the flavour of onions slowly spread onto my tongue, then, garlic, chives, mushrooms and an unidentifiable earthy flavour. As the taste slowly faded, I was left with a fizzing sensation on my tongue that was both pleasant and unusual. The vegetable responsible, Szechwan cress, was just one of two dozen herbs that the chef had on display at the Norwegian Koppert cress booth at this year's HACE cooking competition. The Norwegian exhibit is just one of hundreds gathered at the event. Entering the hall through the main entrance, visitors are confronted by the delicious smells of breads, coffee, cheeses and more. As well as the live-cooking competition, the 30th annual HACE International Hotel Supplies Exhibition at the Nasr City Convention Centre kicked off its four-day event on Monday by highlighting the latest technology in restaurant computer systems, appliances, kitchen supplies, décor, furniture and food. Suppliers from all over the world, including America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, had come together in Cairo to showcase their products, technology and skills. Wandering through the exhibition, visitors are able to sample international delights, like Norwegian herbs, from vendors hoping to make contacts and gain customers. The international culinary offerings gathered at the exhibition bring Egypt the supplies it needs to add flair to hotel, and even home, kitchens all over the country. However, in order to take full advantage of the offerings at the HACE event, chefs need to have both the necessary knowledge and passion, which is where the Egyptian Chefs Association and the Egyptian Tourism Federation come in. The association's booth, one of the most popular, is holding a cake-decorating contest at the event, and, as the cameras roll, everyone is watching to see who will be the winner. Talented chefs engage in chocolate carving, baking and cooking skills that hoteliers and members of the general public alike simply cannot resist. The goal is not so much to impress the public with their skills, amazing though these are, as to spread awareness about education and opportunities in culinary expertise. Thanks to the forward thinking and ambition of Mirjam van Ijssel, executive director of the Egyptian Chefs Association, the dream of creating jobs and bringing Egyptian culinary standards up to international ones is on the way towards coming true. Three higher-education campuses in Egypt now enable young people to participate in a real culinary certification programme. Shocking though it might seem, until comparatively recently there was no formal training for chefs in Egypt despite the fact that one of the country's main industries is tourism, and tourists eat hotel food. Visitors to many of Egypt's hotels can attest to the need for better training, with many of them offering the same dishes and lacking in adventurousness and expertise. Tasty and almost always satisfying though such food may be, the repetition does not always please hotel guests, and the culinary experience is insufficiently memorable. Few dishes stick in the minds of guests when they return home. More creativity, knowledge and passion are needed in order to impress guests in Egypt and give them a more memorable culinary experience. Van Ijssel has spent 18 years struggling to realise his dream of an Egyptian Culinary Institute, and today, thanks to sponsorship from the Egyptian Tourism Federation, his dreams may be on the way towards realisation. For the past three years, van Ijssel has been engaged in creating a curriculum to train Egyptian chefs. Today, his hard work and years of effort may be about to begin paying off. According to Samira Mahmoud, chief editor of the Egyptian Chefs Association, Egyptian chefs are really just cooks until they are properly trained. Hotel cooks may be able to duplicate dishes taught to them by trained chefs, she says, but they need to understand food better if they are to create new and imaginative dishes. With this in mind, three new Culinary Training Centres in 6 October governorate, Luxor and Minya are helping trainees do exactly that, offering instruction in preparing dishes from all over the world. In the words of professional chefs Ahmed Mohamed and Ibrahim Rashed, two of the trainers at the new institutes, the secret of cooking great food lies in "temperature, timing and weight." During their training, trainees learn these secrets and others in order to become international chefs. The curriculum includes 30 per cent theory and 70 per cent hands-on training. Potential students are chosen after a comprehensive orientation process. They must pass rigorous interviews before being accepted onto the course, and women are especially strongly encouraged to apply. While the work is physically and mentally demanding, women can earn a lot of respect in the kitchen. According to Rashed, "women have more passion for food, and they have a better appreciation of flavour subtleties than men do." Experienced chefs are also accepted onto the programme, the aim being to help them "unlearn" ways of cooking they may have previously used. It's not often that young men and women have the opportunity to participate in new programmes that almost guarantee a strong career path and career advancement, and the new programme, which does so, has been made possible thanks to sponsorship from the Egyptian Tourism Federation. According to Ahmed El-Nahhas, chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation and of the Egyptian Chefs Association, the Ministry of Tourism has also invested a lot of money in the programme. All the tuition is paid, and trainees are paid a stipend while training to help them pay for materials and living expenses. "This is one of the best opportunities for young people to get a better education," El-Nahhas says. While some young people have inherited a sense of stigma about working in the food- preparation industry, sometimes seen as offering limited possibilities for career advancement, any such doubts quickly evaporate when students are exposed to the respect other cultures accord trained chefs. Training at similar culinary institutes in the United States can cost upwards of $35,000 in tuition alone and take at least two years to complete. By contrast, the Egyptian programme is free to those who are accepted onto it, and the course of study is accelerated, allowing students to get the training they need to succeed. When students have completed the programme, they should have little difficulty finding suitable employment. Not only are there jobs available, but these often pay far more than what many new graduates can earn in office jobs. According to El-Nahhas, "any job done properly and conscientiously is a respectable job. Whatever your job title is, if you don't do it well you are not acting respectably. In Egypt, there are millions of unemployed people, and millions of unfilled positions. The education is not meeting the needs of the market, and in this environment technical training schools can give young people opportunities that a university degree often cannot. Trade schools are the key to finding jobs. We need trained chefs in Egypt. For young people, the sky is the limit." Hotels would also do well to send their present chefs for formal training at the new institutes, in order to bring their menus up to international standards. Thanks to the forward thinking of the Egyptian Chefs Association, the Egyptian Tourism Federation and the ambitions of Mirjam van Ijssel, Egyptian hotels and restaurants now have the tools to meet, and possibly even to exceed, international standards and put Egyptian cuisine on the map. This could be the beginning of a sorely needed kitchen revolution. Khaled Zaghloul, a board member of Infinity, a beverage company, comments that the world's largest hotel complex is currently being built in Hurghada on the Egyptian Red Sea coast. "Every resort hotel needs at least 60 chefs," El-Nahhas adds. "Cruise boats in Upper Egypt need about 30 each. Right now, we have room for 450 students every six months." Demand is outstripping supply. Such new hotels need more than just trained chefs and expanded menus: they also need the culinary supplies necessary for chefs to put international menus on the table. In the past, many international dishes were impossible to make in Egypt, due to a lack of high-quality ingredients and trained professionals. Today, the HACE exhibition and other initiatives are helping to change all that. Sioysioykos is a Cypriot company that supplies different kinds of cheese. Displaying the company's wares at the HACE show, the company is able to attract customers back to try different samples. Such specialty products can help trainers at the new institutes prepare Cypriot dishes to instruct students. Jim Montgomery, Ken Bain and Mike Mistry, also at HACE, make Texas fruitcake so lightly and sweetly flavoured that it melts in the mouth. This and other specialty items are growing in popularity at tourist destinations throughout Egypt. It seems that the face of international cooking in Egypt is about to change. Guests and hoteliers alike are in for a treat, as the country is flooded with new flavours, products and ingredients. Egyptian standards of cooking will be brought up to international standards, and it is to be hoped that as education improves, unemployment will decrease, guests will be happier, business will be created, and a sterling culinary reputation will be built. These should be the goals of any tourist business.
